Why does everyone jump to the conclusion that this will kill Zune? o.0
I live in SA so cannot access ZP but if I could: I would rather pay $15 for ZP than $10 for Apples one for one reason...the media player. iTunes is a piece of cr*p. And the Zune player isn't just a better player is a whole different media experience. If I need to pay a measly $5 extra for that then who cares. Seriously, whats $10 or even $15 per month? For most of us, it's nothing. Just skip pizza one night a month.

Back to the point, I don't see this being a big game changer at all. If someone is using Zune Pass, chances are they have a Zune, or don't like Apple - and both of those types of people are not going to rush to get the same service from Apple.

Why does everyone jump to the conclusion that this will kill Zune? o.0
I live in SA so cannot access ZP but if I could: I would rather pay $15 for ZP than $10 for Apples one for one reason...the media player. iTunes is a piece of cr*p. And the Zune player isn't just a better player is a whole different media experience. If I need to pay a measly $5 extra for that then who cares. Seriously, whats $10 or even $15 per month? For most of us, it's nothing. Just skip pizza one night a month.

Back to the point, I don't see this being a big game changer at all. If someone is using Zune Pass, chances are they have a Zune, or don't like Apple - and both of those types of people are not going to rush to get the same service from Apple.

Totally agree...
I have always felt the same...the media player on the zune (and thus wp7) is so far out better than the iphone and touch equivalent that its a non issue...everyone who has an iphone and touch that has seen my zune hd has been blown away by the eye candy alone....never mind that it just works awesome...

Totally agree...
I have always felt the same...the media player on the zune (and thus wp7) is so far out better than the iphone and touch equivalent that its a non issue...everyone who has an iphone and touch that has seen my zune hd has been blown away by the eye candy alone....never mind that it just works awesome...

really? even my friends who arent exactly die hard apple fans say they like iOS better (although that may just be out of embarrassment from its awe inspiring god-likeness.)
I think that a surprising amount of people would switch over, plus im sure anyone who was fence sitting would fall back to the dark side.

So I don't want to jump in on a speculative conversation about something we're all guessing over, but...

Remember that Apple, Microsoft, etc... we ALL license music from the same folks. Those "folks" are disadvantaged if any one licensee gets too big, ie: it behooves them to ensure there are multiple successful licensees. Also remember that pricing is not set by the licensee, but by the content owners. Sure, licensees can propose ideas and make suggestions, but at the end of the day the owner of the content sets the price.

Finally, I would humbly suggest that Zune is a business Microsoft is increasing our push behind NOT because we don't think anyone else in the business could do a subscription service. There are competitors, there may be more competitors soon, there may be fewer soon. Who knows? But nobody should assume that a new competitor - no matter who they are - would mean the end of Zune Pass. This is not a zero-sum game. In fact - and this is just my personal opinion - after years of Steve Jobs ridiculing the concept of subscription music, I would find it refreshing (ironic & amusing, but mainly refreshing) to see Apple about-face and support the model.